Lara Croft- New Life, New Adventure
by John Carter 68
Summary: After her return from events in TR 4, Lara embarks on a new adventure.
1. Prologue

# Lara Croft - New Life, New Adventure

## ByJohn Carter (68)

Tomb Raider and Lara Croft copyright Core Design LTD and Eidos Interactive, this is a work of fan fiction in no way endorsed by them.

**Author's Note:**Originally intended as a stand-alone tribute to the games and their makers at Core, I've decided to expand to several chapters and see where Lara takes us.As this is my very first attempt at fan fiction, I would greatly appreciate any frank reviews you may care to leave.

**Chapter 1**

Lara walked up to the pretentiously mammoth corporate headquarters of FutureTech Industries and allowed herself a tiny flash of girlish enthusiasm.She'd felt particularly chipper this morning, a way she hadn't felt in years.After the long trial begun in the Tomb of Seth had wound its dark, devastating path down through the myriad horrors it had visited upon her, she doubted she would feel this youthfully clean sort of anticipation ever again.She'd saved the world in those days, unknown to its teeming billions, saved them from an evil they would mercifully never be forced to comprehend.In the process of saving their world, she feared that she had forever lost her own.Lately, it all seemed a vague blur, a bad dream awakened from in cold sweat, the details unremembered.

Today though, Lara felt young again in body, heart, and mind.Never one for lengthy self-analysis, she cheerfully accepted the feeling and returned to the situation at hand.Passing through the thick glass doors of the lobby's security zone, she made note of the artfully hidden sensors and likely positions of concealed weapons emplacements, useful knowledge should she need to make a hasty exit.Lara presented her credentials to the hardnosed matron at the desk and awaited that dour functionary's approval.

"Ah, yes, Ms. Croft.Mr. Webb is expecting you.Please take the lift to the top floor, his office is at the end of the hallway, you can't miss it."**_Don't imagine I can_**, thought Lara, **_if its built like everything else hereabouts_**.Lara had sworn never to work with another egomaniacal corporate potentate again, after Natla, Willard, and tortured old Werner Von Croy, but the verifiable information in the packet she'd received from the shadowy Mr. Webb clearly overrode that imperative.This promised to be a tremendous adventure, perhaps the greatest of them all.She'd never been the sort of girl to run away from one of **those**.Lara reviewed the data she'd received again as the lift rose toward its destination.

Randolph Carter Webb gazed out upon the sprawling vista of the city beneath him, noting with some satisfaction that the reddish tinge to the sky wasn't as deep this morning.Perhaps someday he'd even see it become entirely blue, as the skies of his youth had been.While he waited for his visitor to arrive, he thought back on his life, on the actions he knew had led inexorably to this moment, this rendezvous with destiny for himself, Lara Croft, and likely everyone now living or yet to be born.The tired old chestnut said it all; he'd been there and done that.Human civilization's richest and most powerful private individual of the moment had arisen, as so many of them do, from complete obscurity and grittily unpromising origins.From hill-trash urchin to young-old soldier to near vagrancy, he'd clawed his way to his present lofty height with little more than ruthless determination.He grimly refused to surrender to the notion that **his** vision of the way the world ought to be couldn't be forced out of nothingness and born screaming whole into reality.People and things were strewn broken all along his path, but in the way of such men Webb told himself it couldn't be helped.He'd always kept his personal integrity intact, and at the end of the day that's what really counted, wasn't it?He rather imagined his young visitor was a kindred spirit in this regard, but for all practical purposes it didn't matter if she was or not. 

Lara walked into Webb's sprawling glass and sandstone aerie and took initial measure of her host.He was a tallish, rugged-looking fellow around forty years old.From his cool grey eyes a certain warmer glint could just be detected, hinting there might be a bit more to this chap than his vaguely brutal reputation implied.Of course, appearances were **_always_** deceptive, she'd learned that lesson long ago, and there was one more troubling little matter:Lara's thorough research indicated that this man was not Randolph Carter Webb III, reclusive inheritor of FutureTech Industries, but was instead Randolph Carter Webb 1.0, founder of same.That would make him at least 100 years old.She'd dealt with those who sought immortality before, and it had never been pleasant.

Webb turned from the window at the sound of confidently approaching footsteps, and had his first good look at Lara Croft.Although from her biography he knew she was in her early thirties, to his eye she gave the sense of someone who'd always be a day shy of twenty-eight.Tall and sleekly erect, she possessed a graceful, lithe muscularity that enhanced her classic femininity.Large brown eyes revealed little but contained much, and her long dark auburn hair was braided into a ponytail that seemed to move independently of its owner. Lara Croft clearly held within her powerful energies, coiled beneath a calm, poised surface that both invited and held one at bay.

"Good day, Mr. Webb, I'm Lara Croft.I have reviewed your proposed expedition and I'd like to discuss it further.If I may say, without causing much offense, you appear to be a good deal younger than one might expect."Lara invisibly tensed for action in case her probe provoked a violent reaction.

Webb took her insinuation in stride."Thank you, Ms. Croft, no offense taken. As you suspect, I should by all rights be either in my dotage or in my grave.My firm engineered the genetic process that allows this sort of rejuvenation, of which I am at present the sole beneficiary.How this relates to what I hope will become our mutual endeavour I will explain in the course of our discussions.And if **_I_** may say, without causing offense, **_you_** appear every bit as impressive as your reputation would imply."

Lara politely brushed off the compliment, had it been one, and got to the point. "Before we begin, my terms for working together are these:One, I do things in my own way.I understand that you will join me on this expedition at some point, since you are financing it, but only at a time of my choosing and according to my rules.Two, you will be straightforward and honest with me at all times.I want no surprises from you, although I expect and am prepared for many other surprises along the way.I'm a very busy girl, with neither time nor tolerance for foolishness and interference.Do you agree to my terms?"

Webb considered for a moment and answered, "Done and done.We are agreed, those are conditions I myself have insisted on in the past, before becoming prisoner of my own affairs here at FutureTech.Our arrangement will be as you say.Now, if you will please direct your attention to the map…" Webb's office darkened, and in its centre a detailed holographic map of the planet's surface appeared.Lara followed his stiffly melodramatic monolog with increasing interest."Here under the sands of Cydonia, some 2700 km distant from us at Syria Planum, humanity is told that naturally-occurring geological features and tricks of shadow create the pyramidal formations on the local marscape.As you now know, in reality, the ruins of a vast, aeons-old city of Mars' original inhabitants lies beneath these whirling red storms of dust and sand.We've made some progress in the translation of the Martian writings, although not a great deal.We believe their way of thinking was as alien to us as ours is to whales or dolphins, if not more so.We know they left this world as it began to die, millions of years before the first earthly primates abandoned their comforting trees for the savannah.We are fairly certain that, for whatever reason, the Martians did not come to Earth.We don't know **_where_** they went, but we do know **_how _**they went.They went in starships, Lara, and somewhere within their city they left one behind, with all the knowledge of its making.No matter what other wonders you may discover, the secret of the stardrive technology is the only item of any importance whatever to me."

"This brings us back full circle to the start of our conversation.My life is artificially extended through a process developed here at Futuretech by separate research teams, none of them fully aware of the activities of the others. Although some certainly suspect the old founder of the firm never really went away, my people return the loyalty that I extend to them.My secret is safe for now, but this will not always be so.I am not immortal, but to be young and vital for several normal lifetimes is prize great enough.Although the vast profit potential of relatively inexpensive life-extension is obvious, the reason I can't yet reveal this development is equally obvious; even with the ongoing terraforming of Mars and colonization of our solar system, there aren't within them resources enough to sustain billions of exponentially increasing humans who live so long.At this moment, our society can support but a small number of such long-lived individuals.For only a privileged few to live on thus, while the majority grow old and die knowing it need not be so, is a recipe for annihilation."

"Years ago, I fought in the terrible war between the North-Western Alliance and the newly-arisen South-Eastern Bloc, a war to large extent between the haves and the almost-haves.It was a horror, the likes of which even you have never seen.The inevitable war between the life-extended haves and the "normal" want-to-haves would be infinitely worse.Such a war would destroy us all.In order for everyone to have long life worth the living, we must leave the star of our birth and go, like the Martians before us, out among the galaxy.That is my dream, Lara, and I fervently hope you will help me realize it.Needless to say, there are other, darker forces, some no doubt already known to you, stirring as they become aware of these things.They will be out and about in considerable force.Consider the risks, and tell me your decision."

Lara arose, casually stretching her long legs, and turned to face him."You knew full well before you contacted me that I would want to do this.I've never yet shirked a bit of danger to find something old, interesting, important or unique, nor will I start today.I'm also aware that I'd have encountered quite some difficulty leaving here alive with any information I'd learned if I didn't agree to your request.I wouldn't be here now had I not expected a secret of this magnitude and decided to be the one to find it."

"Despite the ostensibly altruistic nature of you goals, you must understand two things more about me:I'm still in it for the sport, despite what else I may have done or why I may have done it in the past.Lastly, I never accept at face value a self-proclaimed saint who sits on a golden throne.Now that we're understood and agreed, give me the particulars and I'll be off on my way.There's a bit of adventuring to be done, and I'd like to get on with it."

Obviously relieved, Webb gave Lara the details she requested."Remember, the full resources of the company which made Mars colonization profitable are at your disposal whenever you require them.My suborbital yacht **_Barsoom_** is in docking bay 12 at Syrtis Minor spaceport, her crew is standing by.I'll be contacting you after you've had a chance to scout things out a bit.Oh, and Lara, … Good luck."

"I make my own luck, Mr. Webb", Lara replied, and turning with a flip of her ponytail she walked back towards the lift.Lara knew that he was holding something back, something that, to him at least, was very important.But her instincts told her that whatever it was didn't involve a betrayal of her, or present any unanticipated threat, at least not now.She didn't let it bother her.Here was another adventure to be had, at long last another quest worthy of her abilities.Besides, it promised to be great fun.

Randolph Carter Webb admired Lara's shapely behind as she strode away to the elevator.It was, of course, a view he had seen many times before, but this time was different.This time, the view was real.As she disappeared behind the sliding doors, the old man savored the sight of the strong, beautiful, proudly self-assured woman, a woman forever in that magical, golden place between the glorious vigor of youth and the knowing wisdom of maturity.

Although everything he'd told Lara was true, it wasn't the whole story.Long before Webb played his pivotal role in the colonization of space, years before he forced the adoption of so many technological marvels down the usually insatiable, sometimes unwilling, throat of human civilization, he'd been a simple soldier.He had come home from the fiercely exhilarating, terrible adventure of war, both more and less than the man he was before he left.He hadn't really known what to do with himself, and felt that his life was missing something he couldn't quite put his finger on.He stagnated and drifted for a time, and during that time he came across a game for the primitive computers of the day, something about a hot-looking English girl who raided tombs.A longing for a return to adventure, a lifelong interest in the mysteries of the past, and a certain level of adolescent interest, perhaps unseemly in a man his age, conspired to cause him to buy the game.He played that game, and the games that followed, and after a while the simple fun of the things captured his imagination.

The games, although not always perfect, grew on him and he began to see in their digital protagonist qualities he admired and approved of.The games were so well conceived that they managed to create an artificial person, detailed enough to posses a vivid personality all her own, but vague enough for each individual player to perceive her in their own fashion.Webb grew so enamored of this figment of multiple imaginations that he often played the games throughout the night, missing sleep that would have served him well in the day ahead.One night, after playing an enthralling later episode of the game, he realized that although his imaginary friend and heroine didn't begrudge him a share of her adventures, she herself in his position would get up and get on with the real thing.

So Randolph Carter Webb got up and got on with his life.Like all lives, it had its share of mistakes and regrets.Unlike many lives, however, his realized several of its dearest dreams, in spectacular fashion.When first he heard rumors of the lost cities of Mars, brought back by his own surveyors, he knew what had to be done.R. C. Webb knew how to kill two clay pigeons with a single shotgun blast.

Years before, he'd bought the company that created those wonderful games.They'd long since forsaken their first great triumph for newer, perhaps lesser projects, but he owned the intellectual rights to everything they had ever made.Although he'd intended otherwise, he became too busy remaking his world to reintroduce his favorite heroine to new generations.She was no longer universally recognized, and was now known to but a few in this world, as she had originally been known to but few in her own.This was as it should be, both for her and for what he had in mind.

Webb knew that even his vast corporate and personal power could not prevail alone in the struggle ahead.He needed a new ally.He determined to recreate an old one.FutureTech Biorobotics and FutureTech Advanced AI entered nonstop R&D overdrive.Eidos/Core Holoworlds, a wholly owned subsidiary of FutureTech Interplanetary, were instructed to revisit their old heroine.Years later, fewer than he feared but more than he hoped, the creation of those long-dead game designers and the legions of players who had loved that creation was ready, at long last, to live life on her own terms.

Webb was confident that he would survive long enough to aid Lara in the quest ahead, and in so doing achieve his old dream, the endless spread throughout the galaxy of humankind.He knew, though, that the longevity treatment had its limits.No adaptation of the technology that had successfully synthesized and placed in a real, independent, and living mind the dreams of Lara's old friends could be made to transfer his own mind into a new body.

He did hope he would live long enough to see Lara Croft make the ultimate discovery of her amazing career, that of her own human soul.After all, Lara had never once failed to find a prize of great and unique value, for fear of trying.

Jan 2001


	2. Interludes and Rocketships

**Lara Croft - New Life, New Adventure**

** **

**CHAPTER 2:_Interludes and Rocketships _**

**_ _**

_ _

Lara replaced the pistol into the holster strapped tight around her thigh.The weapon's weight and slight warmth were reassuring.She quickly searched the body of her would-be ambusher, but found nothing to identify him or those who sent him.He'd been a good professional murderer, perhaps, but not a good professional killer.She'd seen him well before he could manage line of sight on her.Still, this sort usually waited until she arrived at her destination before starting the chase. He'd been waiting for **_somebody_** to arrive at the FutureTech hanger, if not her in particular. Webb needed better security so close to one of his lairs.

Punching a code into the keypad, she waited as the doors cycled open.A slight, middle-aged Asian man in company field coveralls stood inside.

"Hi, Ms. Croft, I'm Bob Shimotsu, chief planetary survey officer for FutureTech.Please come on inside and we'll get you on your way."

"What happened to your security, Bob?You did notice that ruffian skulking about outside, I presume?"

"Sorry about that, but yeah, we saw him.All our operations attract a certain amount of attention, especially those near a public facility.We'd get plenty of grief from the authorities if we killed off everybody who lurks around.Not to worry, if he'd come within five centimeters of getting the drop on you, he'd have gotten a flechette burst center of mass in the belly from the site defense grid. Thanks to you he didn't and is therefore easier to clean up.Now, if you'll follow me, we'll mount up and get gone.We've got a well-stocked onboard armory;you can top off your pistols and find other stuff that goes bang enroute.Ready to roll?"

"No worries, I'm ready when you are."Lara barely stifled a grin at the inoffensive-looking little areologist's casual machismo.**_Books and their covers…_**

The **_Barsoom_**'s ground crew finished working and pulled back behind the landing bay service doors as the two boarded the "yacht".The craft evidently was originally designed as a military assault transport."Bit utilitarian for a rich man's plaything, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I suppose so, but the boss's cabin sports really cool neo-Nemoid décor.**_Barsoom_** is one of the fastest ships on Mars, she's got six Rolls-Royce Merlin 12 thrusters and the newest Daimler-Siemens magnetic repulsor array, so she can solid haul…tail. We'll be at Cydonia a little after sunrise." 

Lara chuckled aloud at the man's belated delicacy of speech.Everyone thought the noble English lady too refined to hear even the mildest vulgar oath.Never failed to amuse, given her old reputation in some sectors of the press as a murderous vandal of priceless cultural treasures."Don't censor yourself on my account, Bob, I imagine I can out-cuss the earthiest Liverpool swabbie when the fancy strikes."

The pair walked into the near-empty cargo bay and stopped at a windowless unmarked metal door.Shimotsu unlocked the hatch with a quick series of keypad strokes."Here you go, make yourself at home, all the goodies are yours for the taking.Join us in the cockpit up front when you're done."

Lara replaced the spent rounds for her H&K hyper-repeaters and added a few more magazines to her backpack.She liked and trusted her new pistols; the things could almost shoot forever between reloads and were accurate at incredible ranges.Still, she felt a certain nostalgia for the pair of Browning Hi-powers her father had left her, and the Llama .45s she'd carried later in her career.Nonetheless, she rarely passed up a chance to retire the beloved old for the more effective new.People, though, were a different matter, even to a loner like herself, and sometimes she missed her loyal old friends…

Scouring the weapon racks, she found a small rotary-magazine grenade launcher similar to ones she had used before.She grabbed several different types of ammo, marked "Anti-personnel", "Flash-bang", and a pair of the intriguingly named "Self-propelled Auto-locking Anti-armor".Water, food, med kit, and radio/MPS-locator already inside, the ammo left little room for anything else, but she was sure this situation would prove temporary.Lara rolled her shoulders into the backpack in a single practiced fluid movement and headed for the **_Barsoom_**'s cockpit.The change in pitch of the ship's engines told her they'd soon on their way.

The dream was different this time.Before, Webb had watched disembodied, a hovering spectator to the drama before him.Now, he was inside the mind of one of the players, an undetected and mute presence privy to the thoughts of his host.In a view screen reflection to his left he caught a glimpse of the man, a face younger, more refined than his own, but his own face just the same.His host looked up through the clear dome of the ship's bridge, nodding with satisfaction as the rest of the fleet winked into existence around the target world.Now the preliminary bombardment could begin, the planetary defenses would be swatted aside, and the legions of humanity would sweep down and bring this world also into the fold.The cultural and genetic assimilation process was always long, but in the end the alien race below would become as human as its potential allowed.The long-departed Founder, were he here to see it, must certainly smile upon his progeny's work. There would be no genocide, no murder of the innocent, only the spread of humanity in the most humane possible way.This race had fought poorly. They needed the human touch far more than the Empire needed them to be human.The Empire would show generosity, a virtue in the Founder's time as it remained today.As the architect of so many victories, he, the Warleader, would someday take his place on the throne of his mother. He would guide ALL his sisters and brothers, full or partially human, in the best way he knew how.It was good to perform the function for which one was born…

Webb screamed in silence, screamed THIS wasn't what he wanted, No God no you idiots, you damned, stupid fools!From far back within his own mind, a third presence, something very old, very wise, and very sad, sang and sighed in sorrow…

He woke up, heart racing, body slick with greasy sweat.Another nightmare.He didn't believe in omens and portents.No lions whelping in the streets, no graves yawning and giving up their dead.Still, some good might come of this ridiculous phantasm yet.Things could very well turn out such if Lara did not reach the prize before the opposition.It was time to take out some more insurance against that possibility.He got up and made his way to the wall communication panel."Priority message secure channel two to Earth.Encryption routine romeo-charlie-whiskey-zero-niner.Message follows:"He finished and logged off.No sense trying to sleep again.Time to go to work.She would be at the City soon, and there would be much to do.

Lara stepped into the cockpit and took her seat.Outside, the stunning vista of the Martian wastes rapidly became visible as dawn broke on the horizon.Shimotsu nodded to her and spoke."Ever been out this far, Lara?" 

"No, I've never been here at all, this is my first trip to Mars.Breathtaking.I've seen sights most never dream of, but this is something I never imagined."

"Well, you sure have an incredible sense of balance in 1/3 of the gravity from what you're used to.Most newbies bounce around like ping-pong balls first time here."

Glad he didn't see me do that face-plant into the wall at the spaceport, Lara thought with rueful amusement."I've always been blessed with pretty good coordination, comes in handy in the extreme archeology biz at times.Right, then, Bob, I've been briefed on what to expect and I've done quite a bit of research on my own, of course, but I'd like your perspective as a field expert on a few things.Just exactly why is no one else such as UN Space Authority already excavating this site, even covertly?I can deduce for myself the secrecy blanket.What are your own theories as to why the Martians didn't simply do what we humans are doing and reverse the death of their world or prevent it in the first place?Their technology seems to have been far in advance of our own."

Shimotsu took a deep breath and launched into a verbal dissertation fully in character with his bookish appearance."Probably easier to answer your last questions first.Short answer, we just don't know.We assume the asteroid bombardment of the southern hemisphere was so intense and sudden that they couldn't minimize the massive amounts of damage to the ecosphere.They may have left even before it happened. The text we translated from the "stele" found buried outside the main city proper was an epistle, primarily intended to inform posterity, who or whatever that might be.The Martians said they had lived rich lives here, were sad to leave, yet looked forward to going out to whatever lay beyond the solar system.Those who would be either their enemies or their friends could know them by the ships they flew, and should children of this sun ever come after them, they might join the Martians, provided they proved their worth by finding and understanding the ship they left behind.The translation effort used to glean that much, over 200 terabytes of computing power, with no type of Rosetta stone to go by, has pretty much tapped us out for now.Cracking Minoan Linear B was like playing checkers instead of three-dee chess compared to this."

"UN isn't allowing excavation of this site simply for fear of the chaos to ensue if the larger national governments on Earth think someone other than themselves might find anything of power and exploit it unilaterally.None of the independent media have any conclusive proof of the Martians' existence, and those who talk about it are marginalized as crackpots, which many of them are anyway."

Some things never change."I suspected as much, just wanted some confirmation of my other sources. Now, what about the UN Space Force security cordon?I understand we're to just fly into the most tightly guarded area in the solar system, I do my usual thing, and all's right with Mars?Webb told me this part was "covered", but he gave me no details.Operational security, he called it.What is the plan, before I stick my neck into the waiting noose?"

"Bear with me a moment before I answer that.Very few organizations and nations have the means to come here.Most of those who can claim to fear the radiation levels said to blanket the area, from nuclear devices set off to release the frozen CO2 in the ground during the initial stages of terrafroming.That cover story, easy enough as it is to refute, gives most leaders an out when their constituencies ask why they can't look for anything here.Actually, all the nukes were popped in the polar regions and on the equator in the Tharsis plateau, the former to release water vapor and the latter in an attempt to stimulate tectonic action, lack of heat from which is a prime reason why the original atmosphere bled off into space.We think the Martian's City is well preserved in part due to the absence of seismic activity through the ages.The atmosphere we've breathed for the last thirty or so years is courtesy the big solar mirrors above the poles, as well as fusion powered "Zoob tubes", or Zubrin heat generators, sank deep into the CO2 pockets below ground, and genetically modified arctic algae which convert the CO2 into oxygen through photosynthesis.We'll have forests here in another 50 years.The experts on Earth said it would take at least two hundred years to get a breathable atmosphere. We've done it in 75."

Lara felt slightly irritated at the interesting but nearly useless lecture."Yes, that's fascinating.The perimeter defenses, if you please?"

Shimotsu came out of his enthusiastic scientific reverie with a visible start."Sorry, I go on ad nauseum, I know.The unopposed perimeter penetration is one of the sweetheart deals you get working with FutureTech.There are two UN Space Force manned stations, both far from where we're going.The UN's air defense network control computers and robotic ground sentries were all built by F-Tech shell companies.We've already spoofed the radar net and will land undetected.Soon, you'll meet your guide and guardian for the rest of the trip.Remember the ban on AI self-aware war machines back on Earth?The prototypes are sentries here.UN figures they're cost effective security solutions.So do we.Here, take this transmitter."Shimotsu handed her a small flat-black disk."Once we set down, the sentry will lock onto this and associate the signal with your heat signature and our confirmation code burst.You will then be its "commander".Any verbal communication you need to make can be quite specific and in depth, AI complexity is a bit further along than everyone thinks.It will take you to the City outskirts along its normal patrol route and then return to its standard routine."

Lara was somewhat nonplussed by this revelation.Commercial archeology was not about robot war machines!This was beginning to sound like a silly bit of American cinema. She'd heard of such things as the AI machines before, somewhere, but hadn't paid much attention to it what with all the other drama in her life.Suddenly she felt old and out of touch, despite being barely thirty-three.She shook it off and got her mind back in the game.I've done far stranger things than this.No weirdness too weird for the likes of Lara Croft.

"You'd best be right, or my last act before becoming Martian fertilizer will be to shoot off a pair of someone's prized family possessions.By the way, is that Olympus Mons I see there on the southern horizon?"

"Yep, that it is, tallest mountain in the solar system. Magnificent even from here, isn't it?The last of the old Mars is on its slopes, cold and unbreathable.We've identified a Martian ruin near the summit, deep in the Ostermann crevasse; our people think it might be a funerary temple or necropolis.We've really not had inclination to look, given the disappearance of the only team we tried to send here into the City.No use wasting our people, and I hope very much that we're not wasting you as well.Mr. Webb has a lot of faith in you, Lara.For your sake I hope it's well-placed."For an instant, Shimotsu's deadpan face revealed a softer, almost wistful cast.Then it was gone."We're here, now, hop down through the rear cargo doors when they open and you're on your way."

Lara got up and started to leave."Events will tell, but I've survived many things less forbidding and nearly as alien as this in my time.I enjoy a good challenge, makes life worth the living. If what you and your employer say is there actually is, rest assured, I'll return with it.I'll see you when I'm ready to be picked up".She left the cockpit and strode to the rear of the craft.

The pilot throttled back the ship's powerful engines, cut in its repulsors and brought it to a hover a little more than a meter above the surface.Lara dropped to the ground in a crouch, legs absorbing the slight shock, and stood up in a single smooth motion.Walking in front of the Barsoom, she looked down from the plateau to the valley of Cydonia below.Far away, the pyramidal forms hinted at in the dawn's light beckoned her with the promise of new discoveries and excitement.Finally back in my element.Closer in, a rapidly moving object approached in a small cloud of ochre dust, the machine that was her last connecting ride to adventure.Adventure was the only home she had left, now, and the only one she had ever truly known how to call her own.

Bob Shimotsu looked down from the cockpit at the trim figure in her form-fitting black Martian environment suit."Ever see a woman like that before, Rolf?"

The pilot looked up from his instruments and out at Lara."Nein.Never once."

"Likewise. I'm afraid we never will again, either.Hope I'm wrong…Sentry's coming, reading normal all systems.Turn this crate around and head us home, it's all up to her now."

Lara turned and watched the Barsoom shrink to a small speck in the sky and disappear.She turned back around and walked down the slope to the valley below.

Far from the growing human cities on Mars, deep beneath a commercial mining complex in the vast impact crater of Hellas Planitia, a man calling himself Bertrand Degrelle awaited the arrival of his earthly compatriot's communications signals.The Organization's incessant search for artifacts of power had yielded one more item of strategic value their adversaries did not possess, instantaneous intra-solar system communications.He didn't understand how it worked, nor did he care.That was the province of the group's physical-universe mages, the science teams.He himself was a man of action.

Degrelle admired his memorabilia collection as he waited.Everything in it related to the masterful disinformation campaign his group had conducted so successfully over the centuries.Here, an old piece of American paper currency.There, a card game from the 20th century.On the mantle, a book denouncing the Masonic order.Framed on the wall, an old poster from a movie based on a video game.The organization popularly known as the Illuminati was known everywhere as a joke.It amused him endlessly to think that although many knew of them, very few outside their own ranks believed they existed.

Presently, enough signals came in to allow a quorum.The Singapore, Jakarta, and San Francisco contingents were here.Sao Paulo logged in.The German element apparently could not resist the temptation to meet in Henry the Fowler's burial chamber under Wewelsburg castle.Finally, the current head of the Organization appeared on the monitor.The warm azure brilliance of Valletta harbor was visible behind him through the windows of the great hall of Fort Saint Elmo, onetime stronghold of the Knights of Malta.The last Grand Master of that extinct order would no doubt be rolling in his crypt were he aware that the leader of his ancient adversaries now held court from his ornate chair. 

Rituals of the greeting perfunctorily performed, the usual catalog of day-to-day business took a full hour.Governmental agencies infiltrated or suborned, a few losses of agents of influence in same.Transnational corporations bought off, undermined, or turned to use.Status of special research projects and successful disinformation campaigns discussed.Assassinations, brush wars, currency manipulation, the entire tired laundry list of activities must be covered before the important business of the meeting could be attended to.His own report, the search for the starship.The progress of Webb's agents in saving the Organization the trouble of freeing it.The plan to deny them the fruits of their labor.Only Degrelle, youngest and most capable of the High Acolytes, could be trusted with this essential work.Someday, old man, I will hold forth in that chair you pontificate from now.

The Prime Acolyte spoke:"Degrelle.Report and analysis of developments in the last 24 hours, please."

"Sir, Webb has brought in a specialist previously unknown to us, a young woman."He displayed a recording of the woman outside the FutureTech hanger, bending over the body of the minion she had slain."She arrived at Syria Planum yesterday, entered the FutureTech building and stayed for one hour thirty-five minutes.Early this morning she arrived at Syrtis Minor spaceport, where we evaluated her combat abilities.She is well trained and reacted within higher than standard efficiency parameters.She and Webb's transport ship departed for Cydonia and are there now.In other developments, a tight beam encrypted transmission from FutureTech went out to Earth at 0445 local time.Contents of the message are unknown."

The Prime's face showed a hint of concern, something most would not have noticed. "Yes, we have identified that transmission as being routed to KwaZulu Government House in Ulundi.The meaning and intent of such communication is unknown to us.We show a Zulu mining concession operating on Mars under FutureTech's aegis, what do you know of their activities?Most importantly, who is the new player in the game?You must identify her and take appropriate action, and you must do so immediately." 

Degrelle knew this part was fraught with danger.He must appear undisturbed by the lack of information at his disposal."The Zulu operation is small and apparently legitimate.We have no indicators of the miner's being anything other than what they seem.Perhaps the transmission was a routine report of some kind.I will not assume that and will continue to investigate."

Webb's deadly new minx.What to say about the mystery woman?Degrelle glanced at the figure on the monitor, her face now turned to the camera as she stood up from the body.I've seen her, somewhere….His eyes turned to the movie poster on the wall.

Then he looked at the box art of one of the later games in the series the movie had been derived from, in which the game character, Lara Croft, "faces the dark organization which framed her, stole her reputation, and now seeks her very life…".No, not possible… He hurriedly recalled all he knew about the Webbs, the old nemeses of the Organization.The single major transnational corporate empire never meaningfully penetrated by their agents.Oh, yes, oh yes indeed.Entirely possible!With amused enlightenment, he realized Webb was either far cleverer than imagined, or much weaker than he had thought possible.At any rate, he now knew the name of his new enemy. 

"Sir, I believe I know who it is we face at Cydonia."He explained, and the quorum considered the implications and the various courses of action available to them.

End Chapter 2


	3. Into the City of the Singing Shadows

Chapter 3 Into the City of the Singing Shadows

Chapter 3:_Into_ _the City of the Singing Shadows_

** **

** **

**__**_Proceeding to rally point coordinates.Tracking human target range 653.1278 meters.Target emitting recognition signal.Recognition signal verified.Receiving command confirmation code.Decrypting.Confirmation code verified.Human Lara Croft removed from targeting list.Modified Asimov protocols engaged.Self-awareness mode initiated.Artificial personality matrix engaged.****_

**_I am moving to rendezvous with my new commander.It has been 482 standard days, 16 hours, 39.108 minutes since termination of my last full operational mode session.I have received updated mission orders from high command.My new tactical commander will require my capabilities to achieve mission objectives._**_**I am to ensure she enters underground opening grid TR 8390597250 in fully functional condition.I will then assume overwatch in standard patrol pattern until end of mission.It has been long since I have served under a human commander.I look forward to performing my duty.I will not fail.**_

**_ _**

Lara watched the sentry machine speed towards her.Moments like these she didn't care for.There was really no way to affect her own fate here, she suspected, despite having the anti-armor grenade locked and ready in the launcher.She had to trust in the "good will" of a machine that thought itself alive.In her experience, trust had often proved untrustworthy.

She stood her ground as the machine moved in on her.From the treads up to the top of the hull the thing was built like a military tank, maybe eight metres from stem to stern.

The low turret proclaimed it to be something else.In addition to twin cannon, grenade launchers, and a powered gatling, several small armoured cupolas were arranged on top like the eyes of a spider.Sensor equipment, no doubt.Other protrubences along the turret's sloped sides held who knows what.Painted on the hull's prow, a stylized, lance-wielding centaur pranced rampant above the UN Space Force symbol.

The sentry stopped suddenly in front of her, its bulk pitching slightly up and forward on the treads before settling level again.The "eye" cupolas swiveled in her direction.A pair of long seconds passed, then the twin cannon elevated skyward as if in benediction.Lara breathed a small sigh of relief.

The machine spoke in a curiously mild but distinctly male baritone voice."Unit BLS zero-three reporting for duty, Commander Croft.I will transport you to mission objective coordinates at your earliest convenience."

**_Oh, this is truly, truly rich, _**Lara thought with no small amusement.**_A polite Terminator on tracks._**"It's convenient now, thank you very much.A word, though.You may call me Lara, really don't fancy the military title.And I shan't be calling you "Unit BLS zero-three", either, much too clumsy.Let me see, from now on your name is… Belisarius.That's the name of an old Byzantine general whose sword I had occasion to find once in a rather nasty hole near the Bosphorus, you'd have liked him, I think.He'd have positively LOVED you.All right, then, where do I ride?"

A hatch on the hull just forward of the turret opened.Lara clicked the switch to "Safe" on her grenade launcher, slung it over her shoulder, and climbed up to the hatch opening.Balancing her body on both hands, she tucked her legs up under her and lowered herself inside.The seat was padded and comfortable, but not too comfortable.There were no manual controls apparent.She took the pair of VR view glasses from the recess on her right and put it on.When she flipped the tiny toggle switch on the frame, she saw a perfect stereoscopic outside panorama, changing as she turned her head, giving her an unobstructed 360-degree view.As the hatch sealed overhead, "Belisarius" spoke again."Please buckle your seat restraint, Lara.We will now proceed to the objective area, ETA 12.35 minutes.At any time you would like to see in your visor non-visible electromagnetic spectrum radiation patterns or radiant heat imaging, please let me know.I will inform you of any anomalies or potential threats we encounter on the way."

"Thanks, Belisarius, that would be nice."She settled back and enjoyed the ride.Mars was a desolate and hauntingly beautiful place, and as far as she knew no one had yet written a decent travelogue, other than the inevitable Michelin guides to major cities like Syrtis Minor and Syria Planum.Aside from not having written one in a while, she could actually use the money these days. Might get to it after her monograph on the Martian civilization and ruins.Not that the monograph really mattered, of course, being the first, the first to see, touch and understand the soul of the past, that was what mattered.Monographs and papers and academic acclaim were things she was indifferent to, never missed those things, vanities, really.Still, the monograph would be an interesting intellectual exercise, and if it were received with the professional respect it deserved, so much the nicer.Not that it mattered.Of course.

Belisarius' calm voice interrupted her musings."Lara, I detect a small object shadowing our path at 1.297 kilometers distant.There is a high probability that it is a surveillance drone.It is well camouflaged visually and emits little measurable electromagnetic radiation.Radar signal indicates tactical-grade stealth enhancement.If it did not briefly emit a tight-beam microwave transmission I may not have detected it.Would you like for me to destroy it?"

**_Ah, at last "they" join the chase._**"Can you identify its origin?"

"No, I am unable to make any positive identification.Recommend immediate destruction of the device to deny hostile forces targeting and intelligence data."

"Let's not do that just yet.Let them believe they are undetected for a while. If the drone is still about when we're within half a kilometre of …the objective, I don't want them seeing how I get into the place, you may destroy it then."

"Yes ma'am."

"And don't call me "ma'am".Do I look like anyone's gran to you?"

"I will comply, Lara.You do not appear to be an elderly human female."

"Thanks so very much."

························

Scott Collins walked into his old friend and employer's office.Randy Webb was speaking commands, tapping controls, shifting his attention between several monitors and holographic displays, and was generally trying to control everything in his universe, as usual.Hell of it was he usually succeeded.Also unsurprisingly, sappy old music from the deepest depths of the data retrieval cores played with mock operatic grandness.This one was something about "Hold me, thrill me, kiss me" or some such.At least it wasn't "Blue Velvet" again.Scott hated that one.Sort of creeped him out.

"Scotty C., Vice-President in Charge of Damn Near Everything!What brings you into my lair today?"

"Randy, you know what brings me here.You're planning to go into the City.We're thin on the ground, the Earth and Europa operations have most of our security folks way too far out to get back here to cover this thing.The other side's on the ground in force, waiting to snatch whatever your pet project manages to find in that ruin.Provided she survives to snatch anything at all, that is.Randy.This is not how you operate.This is not how you always win.This has more to do with sentiment than strategy. This is something I want you to seriously reconsider."

RC Webb sat slowly up in his chair, and spoke his "you're missing the trees for the forest" tone."I'm fully aware of the situation.I created the situation.We've got all the assets we need to accomplish the mission.My "pet project", as you call her, is perfectly capable of doing what we need her to do.You do not understand or believe in her capabilities, although you should.She will get to the starship if it is at all possible to do so.This operation requires a low signature, finesse and an instinctive feeling for what works that nobody else on Ares' Red Mars has.We don't need an army for this.We need her."

This was going to be useless.Time to try a different tack."OK, let's say she finds it.Let's say she gets the information it contains.Are you sure, **_really_** sure, that she is going to deliver to you?I know enough about this project to have doubts about her reliability.You made certain she's "Lara Croft".What happens when she finds out there **_is _**no Lara Croft?If she's as intelligent as you say she's supposed to be, the inconsistency between her "memory" of 2002 and her short-term memory of now will eventually push through to the forefront of her mind.What happens then, Randy?What happens when she figures it out?"

Webb looked at his friend in pity, as one would a failed old acquaintance at a high-school reunion."I'm counting on it, Scott.Your reasoning is valid but your assumption is wrong.She's not going to find out there is no Lara Croft.She's going to find out she's not the Lara Croft she thought she was."

························

Bertrand DeGrelle watched the progress of the robot carrying the Croft "woman" with mixed emotions.If she failed, there would be plenty of time to take the ship from FutureTech or its resting place later, but he wanted this victory now.If she succeeded, he would have victory, and hopefully the power to gain his goal.The cost, however, might leave him weakened.**_It matters not.The others are not all fools, but enough of them are._**

Just as the robot neared the expected position, the display went blank.Ah, so they had been noticed.Inevitable, one supposed.There would be no display of the great "Lara Croft's" hazard negotiation skills today.Fortunately, enough personnel were available to expend on entry clearance procedures before DeGrelle himself would need to climb down that hole in the ground.**_Very well, time to begin._**He issued the needed orders, and the "mining base" came alive, quietly, with order and purpose.

····················

Lara watched the pyramids of sand fill her field of view and looked in vain for an opening or sign of hidden entry into what lay beneath.The drone of Belasarius' power plant was broken by the low whine of servos and a quick deep reverb, vibrating in the back of her teeth.A bright flash of light in the edge of her view glasses made her turn and see a small spray of debris float lazily to the ground.

"Surveillance drone destroyed.Our position was 500.025 meters from edge of objective area at time of destruction."Lara was sure she only imagined the smug tone in Belasarius' machine voice."Belasarius.What weapon did you use to destroy the drone?"

"Weapon employed was my starboard main battery mini-rail gun, Lara."

"That's very well, but don't you have a gatling gun or some such to use against small flying objects?Just curious, you understand, I would think a purpose-made air defence weapon would have been your weapon of choice for that drone.Tell me if I am missing a point here, please."

"Odds of destroying the target with my gatling approach 100%.Odds of destruction by one firing of my rail gun were 99.15%.Practical chance of non-destruction of drone in any case approaches null."

"Very well, but why take even the smallest chance of a miss?Not criticizing, now, B, just rather curious why a machine, even a marvelously intelligent one such as yourself, would do such a thing."

There was a brief pause before the war machine answered."I am not entirely sure why.Primarily I desired to test my capabilities under circumstances that did not allow a significant risk element to intrude in event of failure, but still achieved a desired practical goal.Do you wish me to adhere to standard doctrinal programming in future operations?"

"Oh no, Belasarius, do as you see fit, I am no expert on your capabilities.I'd prefer if you used a bit of imagination while we are working together.No worries.Now, next subject:Where exactly is the opening into the city?"

"Follow the moving light-tail in your visor.The rock wall segment highlighted is a façade erected three meters in front of the fissure leading into the objective.The previously dispatched human team disappeared as they reached the point of the fissure, as did the rescue and recovery team's search drone sent afterward.Imagery of the event shows them to have disappeared completely and without apparent cause at an event horizon congruent with the opening.Solid rock is immediately beneath the event area."

"Thanks, B., I knew that.Do these glasses work outside this compartment?" The machine answered affirmatively."Good.Destroy the façade please."Without the firing of a weapon, the seemingly solid rock wall instantly disintegrated and twirled away in several orange dust devils. "Façade wall command demolished, Lara."

"Nice trick, a poof beats a boom every time.I'm going to do a bit of recce, B.; you display what I request on my glasses.I will want sensor reports verbally, as well." She opened the hatch and stepped out into the chilly Martian morning again.Her black environment suit, which she rather thought of as a "catsuit", automatically darkened its hue deeper to better absorb what heat the rays the far-off sun could provide.Walking up to and around the newly uncovered entrance, she could see nothing but darkness beyond a few metres, and no sign of artificial crafting in the rock walls.

"Belasarius, display any unusual electromagnetic energy or radiation present, in green vector lines or grids, please."

"No such energy is present.All magnetic and radioactive levels are at Mars norm." 

"Very well, then, search for something that should be there, but isn't.Any variation at all from what should be present under the circumstances.Display any "dead spots" in the same manner as requested before."

"There are seven areas of zero-magnetic field strength, linear-radial in nature, displaying now.Ambient heat levels in these areas are also .03 degrees Celsius cooler than expected."

Lara saw the green vector lines displayed in a three dimensional pattern overlaid on the fissure before her.The lines covered the entrance thoroughly, except for one fairly sizable gap, about one and a half metres in the air, near the left side.She took a carefully measured step back, and tucked her ponytail in behind her backpack.Turning to slightly aside from straight on to the gap, she breathed in, exhaled, and took three powerful strides forward, jumped and twisted her body to the side while tucking her arms and legs up in front of her chest.She sailed through the gap, landed on her feet, and looked back at the entrance.The green lines in her glasses were gone.

"All background magnetic levels are now normal, as of the moment of completion of your jump, Lara", Belasarius intoned in his calm, bland baritone.

"Thanks, I can see that.Many thanks for your kind assistance, B; do keep the riffraff out until I return.See you later!"Lara popped a Cyalume stick and walked into the darkness, which grudgingly receded before the green light.

····················

Randolph Webb and Bob Shimotsu settled into their seats in the cockpit of the **_Barsoom_**.As the pilot performed preflight checks, Shimotsu turned to Webb and asked; "Sir, no security team for this trip?"

"None needed, Bob.Just drop by mining camp Islandlwana on the way, we need to stop in, get a cup of good strong joe, and make a little pickup."

The **_Barsoom _**slowly rose above the spaceport center, hovered over the city that grew out around it in concentric rings of light industry, shops, and housing, and headed off beyond the few roads going back towards Syria Planum.Soon they flew out over the deep Martian desert, where no patches of green or works of man marred the view.The sky was clean and open with only a few wispy rose clouds in the red-blue sky.Yes, a beautiful day, a good day for the doing of great and glorious things.Webb planned to enjoy it.

·················

The Prime Acolyte of the Order of the All-Seeing-Eye listened to the equivocations and blathering of the Mage with increasing impatience.The Mages refused to believe their calling and craft were nothing more than someone else's science.They persisted in imputing greater significance than deserved to what was no more than another tool in the group's toolbox.The chief mage blithered on, oblivious to the Prime's mounting impatience.

"…And so, sir, the side-effects of using purely terrestrial magicks on Mars, especially where an elder race has once dwelt, cannot be predicted with any great degree of accuracy.The spells themselves may simply not work at all, and…"

"Enough!I tire of your dissimulation!The team now on Mars has successfully accomplished its work before off-world, oddly enough under your direction.I am aware of the risks, and they are entirely acceptable.You will instruct your team to watch and to clean up after DeGrelle, should he fail, and to ensure he does not use his discovery to ends that are incompatible with those of the organization.You will do this or you will no longer be Magus Magister of this group.You understand what that means, no?Now, go."

The chastened mage slunk out of the room, gratifying the Prime, since the mage was accustomed to inspiring fear in others.Humility did wonders for the arrogant.Prime climbed the steps to higher parapets of the fort.Sunset on the Med was something he rarely missed.His long ago predecessors, those before the one who came with the invading forces of Napoleon that had finished the old enemy here, the Knights St. John Hospitaller, would have relished the view beyond their wildest imaginings.

···················

Lara carefully picked her way through the rocks littering the tunnel's incline.The path had gone down deep for a while, but now had been going back up for almost 15 minutes.The Cyalume light stick still glowed brightly, they must be making an improved model from what she was used to.This was good, she resented the space those things took up in her pack.The cool dry air on her face began to stir gently; a larger chamber would not be far away.She'd seen nothing made by hands, claws, or other unknown digits, but the tunnel was clearly not a natural formation.The occasional ants, flies, and other terrestrial insects she had seen on the surface were nowhere in evidence.

At last, she saw a light not her own ahead.Loping forward over the odd stones, Lara looked for anything that could be another trap, since her visor no longer worked so far from its hulking data processing unit.

An opening in the rock wall two meters tall and one across afforded her the first glimpse of the hidden Martian city.A huge underground cavern lie ahead, the view blocked by a featureless polished wall of stone.She tossed a rock through the opening into the area.Nothing.She flicked the end of her ponytail past the opening, on the off chance a trap might be set off only by biological material.Nothing.Tentatively, she poked a finger past the edge of the rough doorway.Again nothing.She stepped on through.

Lara looked up at the night sky.Beyond the high wall, above the slender towers and spirals and half-arches that rose above it, she could see the clear night sky, every star visible, the Milky way distinct and bright in this deserted place.Two brighter stars which could only be the moons Phobos and Deimos hung just above the highest tower.

**_How did they manage THAT?There's nothing but sand and daylight up beyond that starry night!_**Lara was dumfounded, a difficult accomplishment in even the most freakish of circumstances.The scene's eldritch beauty only made it more unbelievable.Well, she'd soon get to the bottom of it, no use wasting time puzzling it out here.

She looked to the right along the outer wall and saw a huge gate.Running to it, she backed up to get a better view of the next amazement before her eyes.

The gate itself was of polished metal, the starlight twinkling off a surface unbroken by any visible separation.Great statues guarded the gate on either side.At least forty meters tall, Lara beheld depictions of the ancient race that had built and dwelt in this place.The figures depicted sinuous, vaguely feline bipeds whose slender forms hinted at controlled but explosive strength.Their massive heads were triangular, with large foreheads.Great almond eyes of onyx glinted enigmatically in the half-light.The eyes were set wide apart but straight ahead for stereoscopic hunter's vision.They and mildly elongated snouts spoke of the race's evolution from a hunter species that would have stalked the skin of this world when Mars was green and teeming with life. Well-defined chins broke the illusion of cat-faces.She saw no sign of visible ears.Each figure held its upper arms to its sides, forearms extended, four-fingered hands palms up as though carrying an unseen and revered burden.The hands had opposable thumbs on either side of the palm.The figures' stony clothing was skintight and adorned with odd forms that might be decoration or practical equipment.

She had once been given three wonderful books for her birthday as a girl, gifts from old Winston to his beloved young Miss Lara.**_The Lord of the Rings _**had taken her away from the sometimes sterile and chill halls of Croft Manor, and here she saw a favourite scene from the epic saga that had enthralled her so long ago.Before her in alien splendour stood the Kings of Numenor, guarding the ancient kingdoms of Middle Earth on Mars.She'd seen this place in her mind and heart a hundred times, but now saw it in reality, hundreds of thousands of miles from the green river vales of England that inspired it.

Lost in her reverie, Lara caught a brief movement in the corner of her eye.She leapt backward, the grenade launcher off her back and in her hands before her feet touched the firm sandy ground.She was certain she had seen the eyes of the right statue blink, a quick nictation that had covered the black gleam for a fraction of an instant.She stared at the face.The face stared impassively back.Nothing moved.Nerves, even she had them.**_Hmfph!_**

Lara walked forward to examine the gate.The gate sank into the ground with out a sound.The city invited her inside, and she accepted the invitation.Nothing stirred inside the city, whose towers lie beyond what was clearly a plaza larger than three Trafalgar squares.Fountains and channels and basins now long empty of anything but dust showed the love of water the inhabitants had once cherished here.Great buildings, temples or the lairs of alien bureaucrats she could not tell, stood at the end of the plaza.Other fanciful yet functional towers and solid, window-pierced multi-story buildings lined the streets, which spread out from the plaza in regular radial fashion.The scene was prosaic in its surface and hauntingly alien at the same time.Minds like hers had built this place, but she knew those minds had thought thoughts she would likely have never understood.

No sign of machinery or vehicles could be seen.Very little damage and decay of the ages was evident, although occasional smaller buildings had tumbled to ruin, and no glass gleamed in the empty eye sockets of the city's windows.The city looked asleep, as though it could wake up in some never-to-come morning with throngs of citizens going about their long-gone lives.Here inside the walls, she saw a rosy penumbra on the broken horizon, giving her the distinct impression of sunset rather than sunrise.She'd be interested to see if the light receded or the stars rotated in their courses through the impossible heavens during her time here.

She would have to look about for a spaceport or hanger complex, perhaps there was some key or map to the city here in this obviously public place.She walked forward toward the huge circular truncated cone of a structure at the far end of the plaza.As she did, the air darkened almost imperceptibly, and the fixed shadows on the walls and the fountains shifted and slowly danced her way.Lara stopped and whipped out her pistols.The shadows converged on her, and she could see that they were no longer flat things on the surfaces of her surroundings, but were become standing forms of darker twilight, the stars behind them gleaming more dimly through the shadow that now towered above her twice her own height.

She began to run back to the gate, but stopped in mid stride, and turned around.The shadows sang to her.They sang a wordless song in her mind, a song of endless sorrow but avid hope, a song of welcome and a song of warning.Images in her mind showed her flayed, mutilated, crushed, impaled, and slain in a hundred vivid flashes of horror.Interspersed with these were images of her, safe, secure, and full of unknown wisdom and endless contentment.The shadows sang a song of unfathomable horror and boundless beauty, of unquenchable despair and never-ending hope.Lara listened to their song. 


End file.
